Global Positioning System (GPS) vehicle navigation systems utilise satellites to determine the location of the vehicle on a map and to provide route-planning and navigation guidance, thereby avoiding the need for folded paper maps and printed directions. Different types of such vehicle navigation systems have been presented. Typically the vehicle navigation systems comprise a user interface enabling a user to interact with the system. The user interface may be provided as a touch screen or as a set of keys. By actuating the interface a user may input information and retrieve mp information, such as navigation instructions, from the vehicle navigation system. Some systems provide three-dimensional maps, often called “bird's eye view”, thereby providing a map view of the environment which is intended to mimic or closely correspond to the real environment and thereby further aiding the navigation of the user. With the introduction of GPS-enabled handheld communication devices, such as mobile phones, it is now also possible to use such devices for vehicle navigation purposes.
Also, as the navigation applications become more and more advanced more and more information may be incorporated into the displayed map information. However, as the displayed amount of information increases this may also lead to a map view which is cluttered or even unintelligible. It may even be difficult for a user to correctly identify the navigation route provided by the vehicle navigation system. More over, since the user may need to spend more time to analyse the large amount of displayed information he may compromise the safety. Thus, there remains a need to for a vehicle navigation system that is advanced but yet provides a comprehendible and understandable user interface.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to solve or at least reduce the problems discussed above. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a method, a device and a computer program product that, in a simplified way, provides improved three-dimensional map data in a vehicle navigation system. It would further be desirable to provide an adjustable three-dimensional map data in a vehicle navigation system and to associate graphical three-dimensional map objects data with a transparency level.